Of Fools and Pride
by Moosashi
Summary: Pride—the essence of a samurai, something strove for and fought to keep. But what is pride other than a feeling of self-fulfillment? Through a series of events in his life, the young Sanada samurai Yukimura learns that there are far more important things to hold dear than the so-called essence of a samurai.
1. Fool's Pride

A.N. While I would love to have crafted this story around the actual historical timeline, that was simply not possible. As such, the game's time-bending atmosphere will be utilized to bring events closer to one another. I suppose, if a timeline is to be involved, this first chapter would fall sometime during or after the Battle of Nagashino.

* * *

A spear, a sword, and a clash between them and the two powerful men who were their wielders—the former a crimson armored samurai full of righteous pride and the latter an ambitious man garbed in dark clothing and armor fit for a conqueror. Their weapons had originally clashed some time ago, of which the wounds and exhaustion evident on and in both men were signs of. Both men struggled to overpower one another as their weapons grinded.

Suddenly a trick by the ambitious man—his struggle to overpower his opponent was seemingly overcome and the crimson armored samurai took the opportunity, took the bait for the trap; the spear lunged forward and an unavoidable wound was given to the side of the ambitious man who retaliated without falter as if he felt no pain. Bringing his blade across the lesser armored forearms of the spear's wielder, a deep gash was formed that spurt liquid colored a shade deeper than the crimson armor.

As masterful a samurai the spear user was, he did not release his grip from his weapon, but he couldn't keep hold of it when it was yanked from his bleeding arms by his opponent. A kick to his breastplate sent him skidding backwards, feet unrelenting from their firm grip of the ground and eyes unwavering from the weapon of his opponent that suddenly gleamed in the moonlight as it was heightened for an attack—an attack that his current situation prevented him from defending against. This would be the finishing blow that shattered his pride as a warrior.

Another kick connected with his breastplate, pushing him back even further. He heard a clash of steel before he collapsed to one knee, his eyes finally having wavered from his opponent. When his head rose in confusion, his eyes widened.

"My lord…!"

He heard the ninja, clothed in very untraditional garments for her profession, speak. She stood in front of him with trembling arms held up and dual kunai crisscrossed near her left shoulder, preventing the ambitious man's sword from cutting deeper into her trapezius. Anger swelled within him and he yelled to her, "What are you doing here?!"

She flinched at his harsh words, or perhaps it was just from the strain and pain of her predicament. "My lord, I am your loyal ninja and will always be wherever you are. I have a duty to protect you, and it is my only purpose." It strained her, made the gash near her neck flare in even greater pain, but she managed to turn her head to look at him. Her face was shrouded in shadow yet the conviction shown on it was as bright as day. "Yukimura, run!"

The Sanada samurai stared at her in shock. Something inside him was swelling, a feeling of fear that he would destroy the ninja's conviction if he did not listen to her request. Yet, if he did listen, he would be destroying his own pride as a samurai. His head drooped and a battle began to wage between his mind and his heart. The sound of grinding metal interrupted that battle.

"_Please_!"

He raised his head once more to look at the ninja. She had managed to push the ambitious man away, but no longer looked at him. He smiled at this, knowing she could be naïve at times but keen when the situation required it. She would not look at him anymore for only a fool would turn their back on the enemy. She would not ask him to leave anymore for if he didn't abide then she would force him to. She would not quit, would not relent from her purpose until she knew he was safe. He would not want to see her perish, so he fled in hope that she would follow suit.

Once she could no longer hear his footsteps, she sighed in relief. Her relief was short-lived, however, as the ambitious man's sword was coming down on her for a second time. She managed to parry it by hopping backwards and deflected the two other consecutive attacks with her dual kunai. Instead of counterattacking, the ninja leapt backwards multiple times to put distance between her and the ambitious man. She examined him: a pencil mustache, black hair, and foreboding eyes. "So you're Nobunaga, huh?"

The ambitious man, identified as Nobunaga Oda, stared at her condescendingly. "Yet another fool," he stated slowly while walking towards her.

She gripped her kunai tightly. "I am no fool." She told him confidently. "I fight only for my purpose!" Her tone escalated as she blocked Nobunaga's sword. Separating her kunai as he lifted his sword for a second strike, she attacked at two different areas of his body simultaneously. She figured he would cancel his attack and block the more vital spot, and he did just that, stopping the kunai aimed for his chest with his sword and taking a wound from the second kunai in his thigh. She heard him grunt but had no time to relish in her small victory, for he pushed forth his sword with one hand and used the other fist to backhand her in the cheek; she did whatever she could to get away, but in the end her cry of pain was much louder than his had been as his sword cut into the flesh of her arm.

He was relentless. She had no time for the agony her arm and shoulder were bringing her and now had to desperately move her dual kunai all about to block the quick and successive attacks. Each clash of metal pained her, but she knew it was nothing compared to the pain she'd feel if she faltered even for a second. This man truly was as fearsome as she had heard, and she knew now why her lord had wanted to kill him, but…what a fool—what a fool Yukimura was to try and fight a man of such caliber! Her distracted mind was unable to continue keeping pace with the flurry of attacks. Metal cut into her flesh for a third time and the pain caused her great daze. Not even a moment later she was run-through by the blade, her stomach the target of the fatal blow. Although she had cried out in agony previously, she could only muster a tiny gag at this one.

The sword was pulled from her body quickly, and the owner of it stepped backwards. The fight was over—they both knew that; yet she took her time falling to her knees, at first continuing to stand as if she had the strength to fight on. From her knees she fell onto her side, her body almost curled up. She hadn't lost grip of her weapons, but her opponent saw no threat in her as he pierced the ground with his sword before kneeling next to her. Her breathing was erratic.

With narrowed eyes the ambitious man inquired, "Tell me what this purpose you fight for is."

She'd never been in such pain before so answering his demand took much effort and time. "I…what I fight for…" she stopped and, knowing her speech was impeded by the encroaching death, simplified it all into one word: "Love."

His narrowed eyes relaxed and for a moment his ambition held no spot in either his heart or mind. "Then you are no fool." He stood but kept his gaze on her, the image of a woman who shared his blood flashing before his eyes. "You are something far greater than any man caught up in this foolish thing called 'war.'"

She could feel her conscious slipping away. Before the blackness consumed her completely, she asked, "What's…that?"

He turned his back to her.

"Human."

His hand gripped his sword and the moment it did his ambition once more flowed through his veins. But he wouldn't forget the solace he found in the few seconds without it.

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A.N. There will be at least two more chapters to this. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Resurrection of the Spirit

A.N. As I do research into the actual history of these events and compare it to what the game presents to the player, I find it somewhat humorous to imagine what would happen if the game had been adamant about following history whilst keeping the characters as they are. In the Battle of Tonegawa (which this chapter precedes), Yukimura would have been four years old according to history.

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It had been a week since his failed attempt to kill Nobunaga Oda. He held his head in shame around the others in the Ujiyasu encampment he currently resided in. He often kept to his tent and only left it to practice with his spear during the late hours of evening. Ujiyasu had kept a watchful eye on the lad, noticing his nigh depression. Knowing a soldier in such an emotional state was useless, he ordered Kai to find out what was going on with the Sanada warrior and try to fix things before he had to order the Sanada to return to his master. It was something he didn't want to do, for he was not one to turn help away.

Evening came and matured. As the sun slipped beneath the horizon, the Sanada samurai came forth from his tent as expected. Kai watched from a distance but he had already noticed her; his stare didn't last long and he soon walked towards the field, towards the exact spot he had trained at for the past three days. She followed.

His spear produced a loud swooshing noise at it cut air. His movements were repetitive, nearly automatic, and devoid of any emotion as was his visage. He paid the beautiful woman approaching him no attention.

"Yukimura," she called to him with her fist to her chest and worried eyes upon his image, "Is everything all right?" Her question was somewhat hesitant because she pondered what she should even say or ask.

He paused his practice for just long enough to turn his head to her and reply, "Everything is fine."

She felt relieved at his response, her hand returning to her side and a playful smile suddenly tugging at her lips. "That's good. You know, I've not seen that annoying ninja of yours around." His movement hitched but she seemed to not notice. "How did you ever manage to separate yourself from her?" The Sanada samurai suddenly plunged his spear into the ground and began walking towards her. She stepped aside right before he walked into her as it looked as if he would have plowed her down. Confused, she called out, "Wait."

He stopped, and by doing so granted her one last chance to speak before he left. He made that notion verbal by asking in a monotone voice, "What is it, Lady Kai?"

"Well, I…" she began, now back at square one: not knowing what to say. She pondered Kunoichi's absence, knowing full well that not many things could separate the hyper ninja from her lord. In a worried tone she hesitantly asked, "Why isn't Kunoichi here with you?"

The Sanada samurai didn't give her the conformance of talking face-to-face and instead just answered "She's dead" before walking away.

He heard something hit the ground and knew it was the woman collapsing to her knees. He cursed himself for putting the sadness onto someone else. He never wanted Kunoichi to rescue him; he never wanted her to stay and try to finish what he started; he never wanted her to die! The mere thought of it angered him and nearly drove him to rush from this camp and face Nobunaga Oda once more, previous conviction tossed aside for the newfound desire of revenge. His fists became clenched. He heard hurried footsteps behind him but continued to walk, ignoring them.

All of a sudden he felt hands on his shoulders and the next moment he was whirled around to face the perpetrator—Kai. In the third moment her lips were pressing against his and her hands were resting on his shoulders. Out of shock he remained still. Her lips didn't move at all and the kiss was rather stoic. When she finally pulled away she looked into his widened eyes with her own glazed ones and slowly confessed, "That's from Kunoichi…she always wanted to do that."

Her hands slipped from his shoulders and she then moved around him, her head hung low and her shoulders slumped. As she walked towards the camp she heard the small noise of something being pulled from the ground, followed by the Sanada's voice.

"Lady Kai."

She turned to face him and did her best to compose herself. He held his spear in his hand and his visage seemed renewed, if only because of the tiny flame in his eyes.

"You may tell Lord Ujiyasu that he need not worry. I shall be prepared for battle tomorrow." His voice rang with the same vibrancy as the flame in his eyes.

She nodded, happy for his change of mood but still saddened by the unfortunate news of Kunoichi. All she managed to come up with to say now was "Thank-you, Yukimura."

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A.N. For the integrity of this story I've made the assumption that Kai and Kunoichi knew each other prior to the Battle of Tonegawa, even though the game seemingly portrays them as meeting for the first time.


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